Acknowledgement and Apology

Child & Family Services Ballarat Inc. acknowledges its association with the former organisations, the Ballarat Orphanage (1865-1968) and the Ballarat Children’s Homes (1968-1998). Those organisations provided care for children, including children from Indigenous backgrounds who were known to be part of the Stolen Generation.

Child & Family Services Ballarat Inc. is committed to ensuring that children in our care, and families and individuals who use our services today, receive the best care possible. Our commitment to the former Ballarat Orphanage and Ballarat Children’s Homes residents carries with it a further commitment to assist former residents and their families to come to terms with their time in care and to do what we can to heal any hurts from the past.

While many former residents report positive experiences, others did not receive the care and nurturing that is the right of every child. Child & Family Services Ballarat Inc. deeply regrets the hurt experienced by some children in those institutions. To any former residents who were abused or emotionally or socially damaged, or to any child who lived in fear or distress during their time in the Ballarat Orphanage or in the Ballarat Children’s Homes, we express our unreserved apology for any such mistreatment.

At the same time, we acknowledge and honour the efforts of those former staff and volunteers of the institutions who did their best for children in residence, and the positive influences they were able to achieve.

We invite all former residents of those organisations who wish to do so to contact Child & Family Services Ballarat Inc. through Heritage Services and let us know if we are able to assist you today. We will listen to your story and offer you a personal apology if you were hurt in care. We are able to offer some limited personal counselling and will assist you to explore those former organisations’ records of your time in care that we may hold.